Welcome

Hello and welcome to my site. My name is Diego. Here you will find some interesting information about me as well as some cool projects I have worked on.

I have always been curious about the right and the left brain, the balance between creativity and structure. I believe that creativity is empowering and with it we can see and understand the world in many different ways; creativity enables us to formulate ideas and solutions to problems in unexpected ways. On the other hand, structure makes our solutions logical, solid and long-standing. Structure enables us to communicate and understand each other and work together. Creativity and structure are evident qualities that go beyond the practice of Engineering. For example, these are found in classical music where, all the voices, all the echos, every part coming in and out just at the right time, all and every part always contributing, supporting, and enhancing the final result.

I have been a significant part of my life at school. My undergraduate degree in Engineering gave me the basic tools to understand the more complex ideas and concepts that would come later on during my Master’s and PhD degrees. All along, I was fascinated with the beauty and simplicity of mathematics, and how basic elements could form building blocks to solve practical human problems. I had a very similar experience with software: some of my favorite topics during my Master’s degree were software design and architecture, components, and software engineering. Later on in life, I was able to put these ideas to work in real, large-scale projects.

Sydney Opera House designed by Jorn Utzon photo by http://www.alexandertphotography.com

Software Architecture

One of the ideas that stuck with me during all these years of schooling is that good software is beautiful, in the same way that the Sydney Opera House and the National Congress of Brazil are beautiful. Such human endeavours requiere discipline and most times they require not to be afraid of breaking paradigms. I draw inspiration from stunning architecture like the kind employed in these stunning constructions in my work.

Work Experience

I have also spent a good part of my life working. I have held many positions during my career: software analyst, developer, project manager, instructor. These experiences have taught me how important it is to communicate well and to develop good interpersonal skills. Good working relationships are just as important as the work product. People need to feel that they are contributing to an ideal and that their contribution is valued. According to Myers Briggs there are different personality types: some people are highly analytical, other are doers and like to take action, and others look for consensus. As a project manager it is extremely valuable to acknowledge these types to be able to listen and be open to new ideas. To lead a team is to facilitate group and individual work maintaining workplace values and high technical standards.

Academic Life

My research featured on the cover of Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics. April, 2015.

After spending some time in the industry, I went back to school. My academic path led me to medical imaging. I got into this domain looking for a new challenge after developing business software for banking, government and education institutions. During this time I furthered my knowledge in computer vision, augmented reality, and image processing among other interesting topics. During my PhD where I was researching epilepsy in magnetic resonance images, I wrote the book “WebGL beginners guide“, a textbook for JavaScript programmers who are interested in learning about computer graphics. This book was the first of its kind and I am very proud of this achievement. Later on, I participated in a second book project entitled “WebGL insights” that showcased novel ideas in the world of web-based computer graphics.

During my post-doctoral fellowship I implemented two projects on the application of deep learning in medical imaging. The first project dealt wit the automatic recognition of anatomy in ultrasound (more info here). The second one, with the prediction of tissue features (histopathology) from magnetic resonance imaging.

Awake Labs

In November 2016, I joined Awake Labs. I worked for almost a year in a very exciting project to create technology for people with Autism. Since Autism runs in my family this project was very close to my heart, and I am very grateful for the personal and professional lessons learned during this time.